One of the most prolific German players in NHL history is calling it a day.

Marco Sturm has announced his retirement, via German news outlet Eishockey News. The announcement caps off a 15-year NHL career that went through San Jose, Boston, Los Angeles, Washington, Vancouver and Florida.

The Sharks’ first-round pick (21st overall) at the 1996 NHL Entry Draft, Sturm spent the first seven years of his career in the Bay Area, emerging as a consistent goalscorer that netted a career-high 28 during the 2002-03 campaign.

In 2005, he was involved in the blockbuster deal that brought Joe Thornton to San Jose, going in exchange to Boston with Wayne Primeau and Brad Stuart. Sturm enjoyed more success with the Bruins, scoring 20-plus goals four times, but suffered a pair of significant knee injuries that eventually derailed his career.

That said, his time in Boston is perhaps best remembered for Game 6 winner against against Montreal in the 2008 playoffs. The eighth-seeded Bruins rallied from a three games to one series deficit to force Game 7 on the strength of this goal:

Sturm spent the last two years of his career shuttling between the Kings, Capitals, Canucks and Panthers before briefly joining Cologne of the German league in 2013. He retires as the highest-scoring German player in NHL history, with 242 goals and 487 points.

Thanks for the pieces that helped win the Cup in 2011 in the form of the draft picks and a piece that became Andy Ference. . Also see the article above this one about the guy the Bruins identified as the guy to build around moving forward- Patrice Bergeron. He’s won a Cup, a World Championship and an Olympic Gold while Joe Thornton has been an excellent player and a fine human being. The Bruins identified the right guy to build around. Crow about getting Thornton all you want but Andy Ference and Milan Lucic eventually came out of that trade and they were big pieces in 2011 and again in 2013. So that’s a Cup and a Finals appearance. Not too shabby.

nhstateline - Jan 27, 2014 at 8:56 PM

one more: it cleared some of the money they used to sign Zdeno Chara and Marc Savard. Again, not too shabby.